


These Are The Days Of Our Lives - Drabbles

by xofunghoul



Series: Days [2]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, hardzello - Fandom
Genre: BoRhap, Hardzello family, M/M, hardzello, single dad joe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2020-05-31 08:35:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19422358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xofunghoul/pseuds/xofunghoul
Summary: These are all drabbles about the Mazzello-Jones family. They go back and forth in time, some are right after the ending of the the original story and some go far into the future. Enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

When Ben asked Joe how he felt about him adopting Mazz as his, Joe almost fell off his chair. After all that time, Joe was still ready for Ben to just up and leave him and the blond kept making more commitments to him as time went by, proving him wrong almost daily. 

They didn’t decide it right away, they took their time and discussed it and Joe would always come up with an excuse that made Ben postpone the conversation just to not get into a fight with him. Joe was stubborn but mostly, he was insecure and scared so Ben didn’t push all at once, he took his time. 

“You know I’m not going anywhere, right?” Ben finally whispered in Joe’s ear one night as they were spooning and about to go to sleep. He was playing with Joe’s hair, with one arm wrapped tight around his body in a firm embrace, circling Joe’s arm with his fingers. 

“How could you possibly know that?” Joe said in all honesty. “You’re too young.” 

“You were younger than me when you had Mazz, what are you talking about?” 

“Yes, but I’ve wanted her my whole life.” 

“How do you know I haven’t wanted this my whole life too?” 

Joe turned around to look at Ben. He needed to see if he was just saying what he wanted to hear or if he was being honest and he feared the later because if he was being honest, this was becoming too real. 

“You’re serious.” 

“Stop thinking I’m with a foot out the door, Joe.” Ben shifted once Joe turned to him to keep him in his arms comfortably. “I didn’t meet you in some dating app not knowing you were a dad. I got into this fully knowing. Now, if you really don’t want me to adopt Mazz I’ll be okay with it. She’s your child. But don’t do it out of fear of me leaving because I’m not. I want to be her dad too.” 

“Do you know what that entitles? If something happens to me...” 

“Joe, are you joking? What, do you think if something happens to you, I’m going to leave Mazz alone? Send her off to your mom? What?” Joe wasn’t looking at him, feeling kind of guilty. “I know everything that it entitles. I also know that if something happens to herbhs and you’re not around I would have the same right as you too.” 

Joe was overwhelmed, to say the least. Ben clearly thought this through and wasn’t just saying it. He really wanted this. He wanted him. He wanted this family. “Fuck....” he finally looked up into Ben’s eyes. 

“What?” Ben chuckled at Joe’s reaction. 

“You really do love me.” 

“Yeah, you moron.” Ben dipped his head and kissed Joe sweetly. 

“Okay then. Let’s become a family.” 

**** 

Mazz didn’t object one bit to the whole adoption thing, even though Ben and Joe were very careful throughout the whole process and Ben assured her he wasn’t expecting her to call her dad any time soon or ever if she never felt like it. He wasn’t trying to be something she didn’t want him to be, quite the opposite. He wanted to be whatever Mazz needed. 

It was Ben’s first birthday as Mazz official father and he really wanted to surprise her. Joe offered to help him with her gift but he wanted to try and do it on his own so all Joe did was reassure him Mazz was going to love whatever he got him anyway. 

When the time came for opening presents, Ben was ridiculously nervous. Shifting in his place as he watched her tear up the wrapping paper that he carefully put together himself. Mazz finally finished opening it to reveal a Yankees baseball jersey with her last name on it and it was her favorite player’s number too. She let out a high-pitched scream and run to Ben who kneeled down to take in her hug. 

“I’m really happy you liked it!” 

“I love it! Thanks dad.” She finally let out for the first time. She had been thinking about when she was going to start calling him that and she promised herself she wasn’t going to force it. She would just do it when she finally felt it. And she was feeling it now. 

Joe was looking from afar when Ben’s eyes met his. He didn’t know what was happening, all he could see was Ben standing up after Mazz let go of him and turning white. Ben turned around and left the dining room for the kitchen where no-one was around and Joe followed him right after. 

“What’s going on?” Joe asked worriedly as he watch Ben pacing around hyperventilating. “Ben? What’s happening?” 

Ben stopped on his steps and faced Joe and he was trying with all his might to keep his cool and not cry, that’s why he was hyperventilating. He really didn’t want to cry. “She... she called me dad.” He said almost in a whisper. 

Joe started laughing hysterically. 

“Oh, you are a fucking asshole.” Ben started to pace again, trying to catch his breath as he rubbed his eyes. 

“I’ve never seen you cry before! I didn’t know you could.” Joe was still in stitches almost cry-laughing. 

“Shut up!” 

“This is the most adorable shit I’ve ever seen and I have a daughter. Come here, you idiot.” Joe gestured Ben with his hand and held him as he soothed him, rubbing his back. 

“I didn’t know it was gonna get me like this.” Ben said into the hug, a little calmer. 

“I can see that. It’s okay. Boys can cry too, you know? Even big ones.” Joe teased him once more and Ben pushed him away and gave him an annoying look. “Come one, let’s go back to the party, _dad._ ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been posting these drabbles on tumblr but decided to also share them here!   
> Let me know what you think!   
> If you'd like to know more about this family, you'd like to ask me things you can either hit me up on
> 
> [Tumblr](http://heybuddy-drabbles.tumblr.com)
> 
> or leave a comment here!


	2. Chapter 2

Ben laughed as he was almost lying down in the couch with his legs over Joe’s who was sitting practically under him. He was whispering into his ear some ridiculous new pick-up lines he looked up on the internet and he said ‘it’s what kids are saying these days’ and Ben was in the verge of tears. Joe had Ben practically on his arms and he was leaning into him and as he was whispering nonsense into his ear, he was also kissing Ben’s neck and cheeks – but not his lips, because he wanted to hear him laugh – as his hand wondered under Ben’s shirt on his stomach. 

When Joe run out of silly pick-up lines, honestly, he even invented some of them just to keep Ben laughing, he decided to finally go for his lips after all, and they started to make out like a couple of teenagers while mom wasn’t home. 

“Hey guys!” They didn’t even hear the front door opening when Mazz’s voice came into the living-room and they had to stop kissing. “Oh God, guys. I told you I was coming!” She faked disgust like she always did when she saw them being so mellow for each other but, in fact, she actually really loved that after all these years they were still like this. Like their honey moon phase never ended. “You’re two old men!” 

“Hey honey, what’s up?” Ben said ignoring her comment and not even attempting on pulling away from Joe. 

“Who are you calling old?” Joe did let go of Ben just a little to sit up a little straighter and took his hand out of Ben’s shirt, putting it over it on his stomach. Mazz rolled her eyes at them but she was smiling. 

“Where’s Tommy?” She asked, looking at her phone for the time. 

“Soccer practice with Lucy.” Joe said and added. “Is everything okay? What did you want to talk to us about?” 

“Not talk, actually. I... brought someone I want you to meet...” Mazz seemed a little nervous which was odd for her dads since she grew up to be a very confident woman. A 21 year-old woman now, but forever their baby girl. Ben and Joe shared a look and a smile and Mazz rolled her eyes again. “Can you be cool? Please?” 

“Abso-lutely not!” Joe said. 

“Yes, we’ll be cool.” Ben eyed Joe with that look that said “behave” that Joe knew all too well and it was his time to roll his eyes and Ben was reminded of that beautiful resemblance they shared. “Bring them in.” Mazz nodded and left. “Can I sit up now?” He shuffled under Joe but 

Joe held his grip tighter so Ben went up to kiss him so he’d soften up which worked but now they were kissing again as Ben was sitting up and Mazz walked back in. 

“So, they are almost 50 but they can’t keep their hands to themselves.” Mazz explained with her arms closed over her chest. She was with another girl. 

“I’m so sorry.” Ben finally put his feet on the floor and sat up straight. He even stood up, straightening up his clothes and walking up to them. “Hi, I’m Ben. Nice to meet you.” He stretched his hand with a kind smile and shook hers. 

Joe, of course, stood up after Ben and followed him. “Hi, how are you?” He, instead, went up to the girl and straight up hugged her. “I’m Joe.” 

“Oh...” The girl received the hug little startled but hugged Joe back anyway, looking at Mazz. 

“Nice to finally meet you. I’m Valery.” Joe stepped back after the hug and stood next to Ben, both of them looking at them with smiles on their faces and an awkward silence and Mazz wanted to kill them both. “So... we’re dating.” Val stated to cut through the tension. That was why they were there after all. 

“Yes! Yeah, that’s why we’re here. Parents, this is my girlfriend.” Mazz said too solemnly, taking Val’s hand in hers, which made Val shake her head with a smile. 

“Aww, that’s lovely.” Ben looked at Joe and they both had the worst case of hart eyes on them. “Right, who wants some coffee, then?” 

“Tea, please.” 

Joe said and Ben squeezed Joe’s hand and planted a kiss on his forehead. “I know love.” 

“I’d have some tea too if you don’t mind.” Val said. 

“Want some help?” Mazz asked Ben and turned to Val. “Do you mind?” 

“No, of course not, go ahead.” She smiled and Mazz left her with a little peck on her cheek before following Ben to the kitchen, leaving Val there shifting a little from one foot to the other. 

“Hey, don’t be nervous.” Joe smiled at her and rubbed her arm. “We’re really cool. I’ll just embarrass her a little but it’s my job as her dad.” 

“No, it’s not that...” Val was sporting a shy smile and Joe couldn’t read what was behind it until she bit at her bottom lip and looked up, pointing at one poster on the wall of the living room from one of Joe’s movies. “That’s... like, my favorite movie.” She blushed completely. 

“That old thing?” Joe chuckled a little. “Well, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.” 

“This is going to sound really stupid...” Val hesitated a little but after a sigh she said, “I’m very into indie movies and I’m actually a huge fan of your work. Sorry if this is awkward.” 

“Why would this be awkward! Not at all, it’s lovely to hear. Thank you.” 

Joe pointed with his head to follow him as he led her to the dining room. Mazz was already putting plates with sweets down. Ben decided to go with the tea pot for Joe and Val and it was already placed at the table as well, along with the porcelain tea cups that completed the set Ben had gotten Joe for one anniversary. 

“She’s a fan...” Joe stated with the stupidest grin on his face. 

“Oh, no.” Ben said coming out of the kitchen with his and Mazz’s coffee mug. 

“I was hoping you’d wait a little bit for that.” Mazz was trying not to laugh as they all sat down at the table, her next to Ben. Val and Joe opposite to them. 

“You left me alone with him. I couldn’t help it!” 

“Please, tell me everything you love about my movies. Don’t spare any details.” Joe propped his elbows on the table and rested his face on his hands, looking at the poor mortified woman next to him who kept blushing. 

“Please don’t.” Ben begged her as he poured some tea in hers and Joe’s tea cups. “Stop it.” He then eyed Joe who, of course rolled his eyes at him once more. 

“Fine!” Joe huffed. “How did you two meet then?” 

“Oh God...” Mazz, half laughing took both her hands to her face as she was getting red and both his dads looked at her amused. 

“We met at a sports bar. We were watching a game. I approached her, bought her a beer, tried to pick her up and she never noticed because she was very focused on the game. It took her a while to notice I was into her actually.” Val told the story as Mazz was still hiding her face. 

“Huh... the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree then.” Ben turned his eyes to Joe. 

“Oh, shut up.” 

“It actually took a couple of meetings before she actually told me her name. And when she said Frances Mazzello I thought ‘this must be it because she shares her last name with my favorite movie director’ and then asked her kind of joking if she was related to Joe Mazzello.” 

“Okay, that was beautiful. She almost fell out of her chair when I said you were my dad. It was adorable.” 

“If you ever break this woman’s heart, Frances Mazzello, I’m definitely taking her side.” Joe half hugged Val next to him. 

“Jeez, thanks father.” 

“What do you do, Val?” Ben asked sipping his coffee trying to keep somewhat a normal conversation and stop torturing the girls. 

“I’m a Traumatologist. I specialize in sports injuries. I’m kind of a sports nut.” 

“You are a sports nut and an indie movies fan? We Mazzello’s know how to choose ‘em.” 

“I” Mazz stressed. “know how to choose them because if my memory serves me well, I chose Ben for you.” 

Joe opened his mouth to respond to the outrageous accusation but Val interrupted him. 

“There’s something else that’s kind of freakish about us?” 

“Oh, yeah... we have the same age difference as you guys.” Mazz added. 

“Hold the phone.” Ben said, his jaw almost on the floor. “Wait so you’re 28. That’s how old I was when I met Joe.” 

“That’s fucking disturbing... but sweet?” Joe turned to Ben and they shared a look, as in love as ever, maybe even more so and now as two proud parents. 

It wasn’t long before they heard the front door open and Mazz stood up, practically sprinted away from the table to meet her little brother who run into the dining room before she could even leave it. 

“Lucy sends kisses. She was in rush.” Tommy said as he launched into his sister’s arms as she kneeled down for a tight hug. 

“Hey champ!” Mazz said and when she broke away from the hug, she noticed Tommy’s elbow was hurt. “What happened here?” 

“I fell, whatever. Is that her?” He looked behind Mazz at Val who was half turned to them. 

“You’re bleeding!” Mazz was laughing, it was obviously nothing serious but what was also adorable was Tommy’s enthusiasm to meet her girlfriend. She had actually talked about Val with Tommy before telling her dads. Her brother’s approval was far more important to her. 

“Yeah, yeah I know.” He walked past his sister and stood in front of Val, stretching his hand for her to shook it. She did. “Hi. I’m Tommy, nice to meet you.” 

“Hey Tommy, I heard a lot about you.” Val said with a big smile. “How was soccer practice?” 

“Great! You should come see me sometime, I’m very good at it.” 

Joe burst out laughing and Ben was covering his face and shaking his head. “God, he’s truly a Mazzello isn’t he?” said Ben behind his hands. It amused him to no end how much Tommy was like Joe in a lot of aspects despite not being biologically his. 

“You said it yourself, the apple doesn’t,  _ indeed _ , fall far from the tree.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who would like to know more about grown up Mazz?   
> (who, in my mind is Brie Larson. And her girlfriend is Tessa Thompson) 
> 
> I have two more drabbles to post, then I'll try to write what you guys request me so ask away!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is very short but very lovely. Enjoy!

“Joe...” 

“No” 

Ben was sitting up in bed, knees to his chest, hugging himself, looking at the crib at the end of the bed where he could clearly see that baby Tommy wasn’t sleeping, just twisting and turning, sucking on his little hand. He grunted in discontent and was pouting like crazy. Joe, who was trying to sleep, face pressed against the pillow, lying on his stomach, now turned his head around over his shoulder to look at Ben. 

“He’s fine... he’ll fall asleep by himself in any second. Come here, come on. I’ll let you be little spoon.” Joe waited, still with his head turned to Ben and when the blond didn’t move or respond, he huffed and sat up behind him, resting his chin on Ben’s shoulder, kissing it first. 

“Someone’s having the worst case of separation anxiety I’ve ever seen...” Joe said and lifted a hand through Ben’s neck to ruffle his hair. 

“I’ll put him back as soon as he falls asleep.” Ben kept his gaze on the baby and tried to not get distracted by Joe’s touch and let him win. He knew exactly what he was doing. 

“No, you won’t.” Joe chuckled. 

Ben finally looked at Joe, biting the inside of his bottom lip with puppy eyes, well knowing Joe couldn’t say no to that. “Ugh fine.” Joe laid back down on his side as Ben jumped out of the bed and picked the baby up from the crib as he rocked him all the way back to bed with them. 

He placed Tommy in bed next to him in between them as he laid on his side, facing Joe. 

“You’re incorrigible.” Joe said, rubbing the baby’s back softly as Tommy curled up on Ben’s chest, clinging to the collar of his t-shirt, mumbling baby nonsenses. 

“Leave me alone, it’s my first baby.” Ben muttered and Joe reached forward and kissed Ben on his lips, then Tommy’s head. “You didn’t sleep like this with Mazz?” 

Joe shook his head. “I didn’t sleep at night with Mazz at all when she was this small.” 

And almost as if they were calling her, came a knock on the door and Mazz appeared behind it. 

“Hey guys...” she called out. 

“Are you okay?” Joe lifted his head to take a better look as she approached Ben’s side of the bed. 

“My tummy hurts. I’m on my period.” Mazz was pouty, her period pain wasn’t as bad as how she wanted to be cuddle. 

“Come jump in.” Ben said with a smile with his head turned to her and Joe rolled his eyes. 

“You’re spoiling them.” Joe shook his head but nonetheless peeled the covers so Mazz could place herself between them on Joe’s side, next to Tommy. She hugged the baby who started twisting when he felt the new weighed and ended up turning to Mazz and clinging to her. 

“This is literally why I bought the biggest bed I could find when we moved.” Ben was smiling, wrapping both his kids with an arm that reached Joe as well and Joe did the same. 

“I love you, you big softie.” 

“I know.” Ben shrugged and moved his eyes from Joe to the kids between them who were already drifting off to sleep. Both of them following shortly after. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This is the last drabble I have posted on my tumblr, after this, all the drabbles here will be new ones and I think I'll be posting them only here.  
> I think this one is one of my favorite drabbles. I'm here for soft Ben, what can I say?  
> Lastly, everyone prompts me things to write about Ben, give me something for Joe? What would you like to know/read about him?  
> Please let me know what you think! Your comments inspire me to write more! 
> 
> ps, no one told me how many "smile"s I wrote on the previous drabble, I re-read it the other day and hated myself haha


	4. Chapter 4

When Mazz woke up that morning, it was still night as checked the time and it was around 5am. She remembered that the night before, she passed out before dinner, exhausted, having had woken up very early, gone to school and had baseball practice that left her absolutely worn out so after she took a shower she fell asleep before she could even notice. That’s why she was awake now. Her stomach rumbled hard because she hadn’t eaten in many hours, so she decided to just get up and have some breakfast. 

She opened her room’s door and walked outside and right across from hers was her parents' bedroom. They still always left the door slightly open in case she needed anything. To which she always rolled her eyes. She’s 15 now, no need for that. 

When she walked right past it, she heard some mumbling so she peeked inside. There were Ben and Joe, sleeping in a tight embrace. Ben was resting his head in Joe’s chest and Joe was hugging him with both arms under the covers. At their feet was Frankie, because now that Tommy was born, she would sleep in whatever bedroom he was. 

Mazz stared for a moment, with a little smile on her face. _She was so lucky,_ she thought. She knew she had the best human being in the world as a dad. Joe was perfect, always had been and she admired him so much. The way he fought against every social norm just to have her and how absolutely devoted he was to her, no matter what, always amazed her to no end because it wasn’t something she saw regularly. Yes, sure her friends’ parents loved them, of course they did. But Joe was different. It definitely felt like he was born to be _her_ dad. 

And not only that, he then went and got her another amazing dad. 

At some point in her young life, before Ben, Mazz thought it was going to be just the two of them forever. And she was okay with it. Joe was more than enough for her, she never felt like she needed a mom or another parent. She never felt like she was missing something by having only Joe. It was the two of them against the world and she liked it that way. But, even at that young age, she knew there might come a time where she wasn’t going to be enough for him. And he’d be all alone because at some point she was going to grow up, study, move out, maybe start a family of her own, and as much as she’d make him to be a part of all that and, for sure, they’d be best friends, sort of like the _Gilmore Girls_ , there still would be some kind of separation. 

But then, Ben came along, a little bit thanks to fate, a little bit thanks to her. And she couldn’t describe him as something other than heaven sent. At first, when she was only 9 years old, she didn’t think much of it. Ben loved her dad. Her dad loved Ben. That was all she knew and it made sense that, if they loved each other, they’d be together. She didn’t understand why Joe put up a bit of a fight at first and she thought it was because of her. And it was, in part, but only as she grew older, she understood how silly the world was, thinking there was something weird or even wrong with two people that loved each other raising a child together, no matter their gender. Joe never raised her conditioning her in liking a certain gender either and everyone was absolutely forbidden to ask her if she had ‘a little boyfriend’ when she was younger. She learnt later that Joe despised the way people filled kids’ minds with the idea of romantic relationships from an early age. He thought childhood was a time to explore, learn and have fun. There was enough time for romantic love in the future and that’s how he raised Mazz. He also raised her in a very gender-neutral way and never conditioned anything she wanted to do because of her gender. Mazz never in her life heard the phrase ‘ _you can’t do that because you’re a girl._ ’ 

So, to say that she was a little shocked by some side looks whenever the three of them were together outside when she grew up a little, was an understatement. But she never took it personally or dwell on it. It wasn’t their problem anyway, they were happy. Ben made her dad happy and that made her happy. And Ben also made her happy. She never knew that someone outside her family could love her just as much, but Ben did and he was there for her just like Joe, almost since day one. He’d bend over backwards for her, for both of them. And he became so instrumental in their lives at one point they didn’t know how they managed without him before. He was up for all of it, the good, the bad, the worst. And he was honestly the most patient person she’s ever and probably will ever meet. Because as much as she loves her dad, Joe is quite a lot to handle. But Ben handles him just right. It’s kind of like he knows exactly what he has to do in every situation. He knows when he has to just shut up, he knows when all Joe needs is a hug. He knows when he has to leave him alone to calm down. He knows exactly which are the battles worth fighting and how to fight them. 

If Mazz is certain of one thing in this life is that soulmates exist and Ben and Joe are it. 

On the doorframe of the bedroom, she turned from her parents to the mumbling sound she came in the room for. In the cradle at the end of the bed Tommy, who now can sit up by himself, was doing just that and playing with a toy, mumbling softly to himself. Tommy is such a calm baby, he never fusses about attention and barely cries, mostly just when he’s not feeling well. From what she’s heard, he’s exactly the opposite as how she was as a baby. 

“What are you doing up, bud?” she whispered as she picked him up and from the bed, Frankie pricked up and jumped down, following Mazz. Tommy simply giggled a little and mumbled something. “Are you hungry too? Let’s have some breakfast.” 

When Ben and Joe told her they wanted to have another child, she didn’t think much of it. She was happy for them but didn’t know how she felt about having a sibling. She wasn’t overly excited about it. Mazz was never an emotional or sentimental child, she was affectionate, yes, she never hid away from a hug or a cuddle but her emotions, she handled different. And she wasn’t, at all, one to pretend either so she didn’t know how she was going to feel until she met him. As soon as she laid her eyes on Tommy when they went to pick him up at the hospital, she was in love. They placed him in her arms and she even wept a little. He was perfect and for sure the most beautiful baby she had ever seen. She didn’t find new-born particularly beautiful but Tommy was a poster baby. 

And she became absolutely devoted to him. 

Once they got to the kitchen, followed around by their dog, Mazz started to make some breakfast for both of them. While she heated up some formula for Tommy’s bottle, she fixed herself a bowl of cereals and cut some fruit for both of them. Much like Joe, she perfected the art of going about with one free hand while holding Tommy. The boy talked to her all throughout the task and she replayed as if anything he was saying made any sense and it wasn’t just baby mumbles. 

When she was done, she took their breakfast to the living-room in a few trips before she settled down on the floor between the coffee table and the couch, with Tommy on her lap, Frankie jumped on the couch behind them and laid there with her head on her little paws. Tommy was now old enough to hold his own bottle up so, he did, as she still hugged him with one arm and had her own breakfast with the other. While they had their breakfast, she turned on the TV and put on one of the kids’ channels and they found one of Tommy’s favorite cartoons where the characters sing all the time. Of course she knew every song and she sang them all while Tommy danced and laughed and tried to sing along with her. 

A few minutes into their breakfast, Ben came into the living-room with a cup of coffee of his own and joined in immediately on the singing, as he sat next to them on the floor not before petting Frankie’s head first. 

“Are you okay?” Ben asked once the song was over. “You were out of it so fast last night, we didn’t have the heart to wake you up for dinner.” he then gave Tommy a few tickles in his tummy to make him laugh and gave him soft kisses in his head. All while Mazz held him.

“No, it’s okay. Thank you, actually. I was so tired. Practice was brutal yesterday. But I’m better now” 

“We noticed you were really tired. I’m glad you were able to rest.” He smiled kindly and nodded at her. “Did he wake you up? I didn’t hear him.”

“No, my rumbling stomach woke me up so I got up for food. I walked past your bedroom and heard him awake. He was just playing with a toy and mumbling by himself.” 

“You should’ve woke me up.” Ben took a sip of his coffee as he continued to play with Tommy with his free hand.

“Oh, come on dad. I can handle some baby duty, don’t worry about it.” Mazz shrugged at him. “Besides, you two looked adorable, I didn’t want to disturb you. How do you manage though? To sleep like that? Isn’t it uncomfortable?” 

“Very.” Ben chuckled a little and shook his head biting his lip, a little embarrassed. “We don’t do it intentionally. We even start the night off separately sometimes because I fall asleep first usually, but we always wake up like that. Massive pain in the neck, but what can you do?” 

“That’s sweet. Uncomfortable. But very sweet.” 

There was pause in the conversation where Ben alternated from his cup of coffee to making Tommy laugh and Mazz looked at him for a few seconds, smiling. She didn’t know if it was the calm of the early morning or the odd hours she slept last night. Or the fact that Ben was an absolute angel 24/7 and here he was being it at 5am effortlessly but she felt like saying something. 

“Thank you.” She spoke softly. 

“What for, love?” He trailed off for a second and then looked up and found Mazz’s transparent eyes full of emotions for it to be so early in the morning fixed on him so he gave her his full attention and smile kindly once more. 

“For loving dad. And me.” She made a pause and continued. “Before knowing you, I always thought dad was a happy man. A little neurotic? Yes, for sure but happy nonetheless. But meeting you, it changed what it meant to be happy for us, you know?”

Ben listened intently to Mazz’s sweet words, a little bit surprised but mostly moved by them. “I wasn’t happy-- at all before meeting you two, you know? I always felt like I was missing something” He offered. “I learnt what happiness was from you two. Only fair I give back a little of it.” 

“Oh don’t be so modest.” Mazz chuckled a little and after a pause she added. “Love you, Ben” 

She finished with that and Ben hugged her, and they felt Tommy giggling between them, tugging at the fabric of Ben’s t-shirt. He planted a kiss on both Mazz’s and Tommy’s heads. 

“I love you all, so much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Mazz's POV on her life so far. I hope you like it!!  
> I have a few prompts I'll try to work on soon. I'm not going to make any promises to how soon. These things mostly just hit me. I started writing this one at 3am on my phone while falling asleep so, if you bare with me, I'll bring you more of this. 
> 
> Please, let me know what you think! Your comments really inspire me to keep writing.


	5. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mazzello-Jones celebrate a birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bitch is back!  
> This fic should be called "These are the breakfast of our lives" instead, honeslty. I may have a problem with the thought of Ben and Joe waking up together and having breakfast in bed.  
> Anyway, this little drabble has no real point but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

It’s a Saturday morning, around 10, when the kitchen at the Mazzello-Jones is busy with work. Sitting carefully on the big counter is Tommy, now 3 years old, putting freshly cut fruit in a container with his hands while Mazz, now 16, is finishing the last of the batch of pancakes she was set out to make. 

“I’m done!” Tommy says, lifting his hands above his red-haired head, and the puts them down about to clean them off on the t-shirt of his pajamas which Mazz catches just in time with a cloth to clean them for him. Tommy giggles. “Whoops, sorry.”

His sister just shakes her head with a smile. “It’s okay bud. Do you want to go get your card while I put all these on a tray?”

“And the _bomet_ !” He mispronounces _bonnet_ , and exclaims after. “And Frankie!” He reaches out with his hands for her to pick him up and she does, putting him down from the counter and not a second later he runs off out of the kitchen while she stays behind fixing up a tray with a plate full of pancakes, another one with scons (authentic ones, baked by grandma Ginny.), fruits and maple syrup, butter and jam along with coffee for everyone except Tommy, who’s having milk in his plastic cup. 

The tray where she places everything is _huge_ and procured obviously by Ben, who introduced the grand gesture breakfast to the family and made her a big fan of it. Now she loves to take care of breakfast whenever there’s a special occasion. And these breakfast are mostly carried out in bed. 

Once everything is ready, she walks a firm and careful step to her parents bedroom where she meets her brother and dog, practically both of them shaking their tails with excitement. Tommy pushes the door open easily since it’s hardly ever completely closed and they both go inside. 

“You’re awake!!” The boy yells and runs towards the bed where he jumps on. There, Ben and Joe are cuddling, with Joe’s back resting against Ben’s chest almost entirely and the blond is embracing him with both arms. When the kids went into the room, they found Ben painting Joe’s cheek with sweet kisses. 

Ben lets go of Joe, who sits up straight to receive Tommy in his arms. The boy leaps in and throws himself into his dad’s arms. “Happy birthday daddy!” He chants, hugging Joe by his neck and gives him a forceful kiss that has them bumping noses and laughing right after. 

“Let me help you out with that, love.” Ben says, as he slips out of bed to come to Mazz’s rescue and takes the tray out of her hands to place it in bed. She thanks him and circles the bed to join Tommy and trapping him into a hug in between her and Joe and the boy laughs. 

“Happy birthday, old man!” She teases because she knows how much Joe dreads getting old and plants a kiss on his forehead right after. “You don’t look a day over 50.”

“I turned 43!” Joe complains with a gasp. 

“I said what I said.” 

“I’m not taking this abuse on my birthday.” 

Joe wants to keep a straight face, he really does, but it’s very hard when his son is trying to put a green bonnet on his head and is about to take an eye out of him. “Can I do it myself?” He asks Tommy who simply nods and sits on Joe’s lap, facing away from him to open the card he made him while Joe puts on his bonnet. 

“This looks great Mazz!” Ben says, sitting back on his side of the bed after placing the tray carefully in front of him and away from the rumbling of Tommy and Joe, and Mazz goes to sit in front of him, with Frankie on her lap. Ben passes Joe his coffee mug and Tommy his cup before taking his own coffee and begins sipping from it. 

“It really does, thank you sweetheart.” Joe agrees. 

They have their breakfast, eating with their hands, making a bit of a mess as Tommy keeps explaining the drawings on the card he made for Joe in his own, some mispronounced, some made up, words. He says it’s them four, Mazz and Joe dressed with baseball uniforms and Ben and him with soccer uniforms and they’re playing together some sort of hybrid of both games. 

And Joe thinks to himself that that’s exactly right, his family is a bit of a hybrid, just like that. They’re odd and different but special and not short on love. He suddenly remembers when they decided to make this hybrid grow, about 4 years earlier exactly when, on his birthday, Ben brought up his want of having another child. He also wanted to live the experience of having a baby. And Joe found it nearly impossible to say no to it. After all, why not try making it right, this time? Not that his way of doing it before was wrong but, he did miss out on one thing when he had Mazz: Having a child with the person you love. He wanted that and now he had it, so there was no excuse he could make, no reason to be scared or insecure anymore. Ben was there for the long run, he proved it time and time again. So he agreed and now, four years later, Tommy is there with them, taking in their hybrid family as the most natural thing in the world and after all, it was, wasn’t it? Isn’t love the most natural thing in the world?

Over the noise of the breakfast conversation, Joe lets out an unintentional sigh that’s almost imperceptible but Ben notices it anyway. “Are you alright?” He frowns and whispers, reaching for Joe’s arm to brush it gently and down to finally catch his hand in his. 

  
“Perfectly fine, yeah.” He says softly to Ben and then speaks up. “I’m just really happy to have you all. I feel really lucky. Maybe getting old is not _that_ bad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments please!  
> Also, I have a new story out with a friend, you can find it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20723411).  
> Thank you for reading!!


	6. Right for me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dads celebrate Valentine's day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is stupid and sweet. Enjoy!

“So, why aren’t you celebrating Valentine’s day again?” 

Joe asks as he walks Lucy and Rami in and towards the living room. The couple is taking Mazz for the night so he and Ben could do something by themselves for Valentine’s day as per Lucy insistence that they needed some time alone. And Joe was more than thankful for it. 

“I’m done subscribing to the expectations of this hetero-patriarchal society and the consumerism of this holiday is disgusting.” 

“I still bought heart shaped chocolates, though.” Rami adds to his girlfriend’s comment and shrugs. He’s too good for his own good, Joe thinks, and so great for Lucy too. And he’s sure her feminism won’t stop her from eating that chocolate. 

So, he laughs wholeheartedly at the two. “Of course, you’re not a monster.”

“Exactly.” Rami agrees.

“What are your plans for tonight?” Lucy asks, taking a sit with Rami on the couch while they wait for Mazz to come down from her room with Ben, Jo stands around in the living room, looking at them. 

“Umm-- nothing much, Ben said he’s only request was to be naked all night.”

Lucy’s face lits up. “Uhh-- take pictures.”

“Lucy!” Rami scolds her and rolls his eyes at her. 

“What? Oh, babe don’t be jealous. I can take naked pictures of you too and send them to Joe. We can compare notes.” Lucy takes Ramis face between her palms and squeezes it and kisses his cheek soundly, evidently just to annoy him. Joe watches them amused. 

“Please don’t.” her boyfriend implores him and before the conversation can get any worse (for Rami at least, Joe is having a blast.) They hear the steps down the stairs and a scream coming from Mazz, Ben walking closely behind her with Frankie on his tail too. 

“Lucy!!!” Mazz sprints to her and jumps into her arms, clinging to her neck and to that, Lucy makes a little grunt because of how forcefully she suddenly jumped onto her but she is used to it and loves it anyway.

“Hey doll!” Lucy takes Mazz’s face in her hands and gives her a big kiss on her cheek. “Ready to go?” She asks with a big smile that Mazz returns immediately and nods enthusiastically at her and hums in agreement. “Okay then, let’s go.” Mazz takes her hand and Lucy takes Rami’s and the three of them stand up from the couch. 

“I was going to ask you not to giver her too much ice-cream and or chocolate but-- yeah just don’t bring her back with a stomach ache. That’s all I’m asking.” Joe makes a weak attempt but he knows that Lucy and Rami spoil Mazz endlessly whenever they get her, still he had to try. 

“Can’t make any promises Joseph.” 

Are Lucy’s final words before the three of them wave goodbye to the love birds and head out the door and the first thing Ben does once he hears it shut is grab Joe by the waist and kiss him smack on the lips. A hand comes down and squeezes his butt playfully and Joe smiles into the kiss. He’s usually the one doing that but Ben is obviously in a cheeky mood. And this mood is more than welcome right now so all Joe does is wrap his arms around Ben as well, hugging him as tight as possible. 

“I bought you something.” Joe says when they pull apart to breath but just a few inches, they’re still pressed close to each other, breathing each other’s breaths, their noses almost touching. 

“You said no presents.” 

“It’s not a present per se and it’s for both of us but I have the feeling you’re going to enjoy it more than me.”

Ben raises an eyebrow and there’s a smirk creeping up on his face. “I’m intrigued.” He lets out his low and deep sexy voice.

“Do you wanna wait for me in the bedroom?” Joe asks pecking his lips and Ben nods.

“I’m gonna go get _nakey._ ” 

Joe watches Ben practically run, discarding his t-shirt along the way and throwing it back at him before climbing up the stairs two steps at a time disappearing into the hall upstairs. He can’t help but grin at the sight and bites his lower lip.  _ Yeah, he loves that idiot _ . Quickly after, Joe heads to the kitchen and there, he opens the fridge. He grabs some champagne, that they bought earlier and set to chill, and a closed box with a red ribbon. He smiles looking at it because he knows Ben is going to get too excited about it. Lastly, he takes two champagne flutes and climbs up the stairs.

He makes his way into the bedroom, slowly entering the bedroom and finds Ben, as he promised, stark naked, sitting in the middle of the bed with his legs crossed, patiently waiting for him. Joe closes the door behind him so Frankie won’t come in later and stands with his back against it, admiring his gorgeous boyfriend in all his glory. Without noticing, he lets out a wistful stupid sigh and Ben smiles up at him from ear to ear. 

“Come ‘ere” Ben says and pats the mattress in front of him and Joe separates himself from the door and walks over to the bed. “But-- your clothes first.”

“You didn’t say you wanted us both to be naked.” Joe says, walking towards the bed and putting down everything he has in his hands so he can take his shoes and pants off. “I think I’m gonna do just my jeans for now.” 

Joe climbs onto the bed and sits opposite Ben, mirroring his position and brings over the champagne flutes. He hands them to the blond so he can grab and open de champagne. With a pop of the cork, the bottle opens, letting out some cold steam and quickly before it spills, he serves the liquid into the flutes. 

“Cheers,” Ben says and clinks his flute with Joe’s but before drinking, he leans in and pecks his lips. They both take sips of the delicious pricey champagne they decided to treat themselves to and then Joe gives back his flute to Ben for him to hold it for him.

“Okay, this is super corny and I hate you a little but I just know--” Joe rolls his eyes and grabs the box next to him, places it in Ben’s legs. “you’re going to go to town on these.”

“Oh god, is this chocolate, because, yes I absolutely am--” Ben gives back the two flutes to Joe and opens the box and what he fins inside is not only chocolate, it’s chocolate covered strawberries. “Yes!!” He exclaims and, as predicted, goes to town on them. Joe swears he’s never seen someone shove down a strawberry so quickly inside their mouths. Ben closes his eyes and hums and smiles while he chews. 

“Happy Valentine’s day.” 

“mhmm--” He nods, a stupid satisfied expression on his face, then opens his eyes again. He leans in and gives Joe a strawberry and chocolate flavored kiss. 

Ben keeps munching on the treats and takes sips of the champagne and Joe watches him enjoy himself. He looks genuinely happy and relaxed and it just warms his heart so much to a point where he doesn’t even care that his hot naked boyfriend is sitting there not paying any attention to him. But he is actually, he didn’t forget Joe is there and he takes one strawberry and feed it to Joe. He leaves his thumb and pointer finger close to Joe’s lips so he can lick them clean and he does. It’s not overly sexual, just intimate and extremely domestic. Ben licks them as well after Joe. 

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” 

“Don’t you wish we could do this all the time sometimes?” Joe asks, sounding apologetic and there’s a touch of guilt in his question.

Ben frowns and after he swallows the bit of fruit in his mouth he answers, “Not really-- I mean, right now I wish I could do this all day but in reality I’m sure I would get bored really quickly so, I actually prefer that we don’t do this often, it makes it all the more special.”

Joe looks down at his champagne flute, one hand on its base, the other running his middle finger around the edge, absently. Ben stretches a hand and cups Joe’s face softly to make him look up at him. “hey-- what is this about, love?”

“Nothing I--” Joe shakes his head. Why does he have to do this now? He should be focusing on his very naked and chocolate covered boyfriend and not on this awful feeling of guiltiness right now. He sighs. “I feel like we barely dated and I thrust you into parenthood and you do all these things--”

“Joe, no, stop.” Ben puts away the, almost empty now, box that's on his legs and takes their champagne flutes and puts them away too so he can hold both Joe’s hands. He looks deep into Joe’s eyes and Joe knows that he already believes whatever he’s going to tell him. “I actually love that we skipped straight to this. That we went straight to being comfortable around each other enough to just do domestic shit together.” He pauses and rubs his thumbs over Joe’s knuckles. “Look, truth be told, I’ve done it before, the dating. It’s not something that I particularly enjoy and I always wait to get to the part where napping together is actually a great idea for a date.” Joe chuckles at that. “And I rarely got there in the past so I’m glad we actually went straight to that.” The red head just nods at his words. “You know I love you and Mazz with all my heart. You didn’t thrust me into anything, I truly enjoy spending time with both of you or even just with Mazz. So please, can we let this go?”

Joe lets go of Ben’s hands and cups Ben’s face. He kisses him softly and rubs his thumbs on his cheeks and at the same time, he gets on his knees, hovering over Ben who immediately uncrosses his legs and lets Joe settle between them, bringing his hands to Joe’s waist and sneaking his hands under his t-shirt. Joe pulls away and smooths Ben hair backwards with one of his hands, the other still cradling his face. 

“Can it be that you’re just right for me?” He whispers against Ben’s lips.

“You better believe it because I am.” Ben brings their lips together briefly and adds. “But I don’t think you’re right for me?”

Joe frowns, “How so?”

“For one, you’re still wearing clothes and I don’t think that’s right for either of us.” Ben rids Joe of his t-shirt while he says this and can hear Joe’s muffled chuckles inside the item. He emerges with tousled hair and a smile on his face again. “Ah, yes much better.” 

“Shut up.” 

Joe puts both his palms on Ben’s chest and pushes him back onto the bed, his worries put aside for now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments please and happy valentine's day!


End file.
